Chapter 1 - Hearing the Voices of the Gods

That’s some strong tsun! Liselotte is really pouring on the tsun now! Don’t you think she’s taking it too far?!』

『To describe Liselotte’s move in a nutshell, it would be ‘Let me join in too!’ But even if that’s her intention, her overly haughty attitude and tendency to excessively beat around the bush have caused her to become misunderstood, don’t you think? It seems that His Highness’s opinion of Liselotte has worsened once again. Oh, what a precarious development…!』

In the tense atmosphere of the courtyard, the strange voices of a man and a woman rang through the air.

The man’s voice was strong and passionate, whilst the woman’s was calm and measured.

The voices that sounded like opposites formed a magnificent duo, and their sonorous call seemed to descend from the heavens. Later, when the history books were written, they would become known as ‘Play-By-Play Endo-kun and The Colour Commentator Kobayashi-san,’ revered as two of the upholding pillars of the divine pantheon of gods.

――――

“Just what is it that you think you are doing here?”

The moment a beautiful girl with curled blonde hair and striking violet eyes called Liselotte— who was both the daughter of Marquis Riefenstahl and my fiancée—entered the courtyard, I knew that whatever happened next would give me a headache.

“A-Ah, that’s… It’s just… There’s something I didn’t understand in the last class, so…”

The girl who spoke back to her as she tried to close up the textbook that had been open on her knee until then in embarrassment had rosy blonde hair and eyes the colour of the sky. Her name was Finne, a friend I had made recently.

As she sat beside me on the bench, she seemed flustered over whether she should stand up respectfully or remain seated, so I decided to calm things down with a hand.

“When I saw that she was troubled, I decided to help her study. Why are you here, Liselotte?”

After I affirmed Finne’s words, Liselotte gave me a silent curtsey before opening her mouth again.

“My fiancée is spending time alone with another woman, it seems. Or at the very least, that’s what some kind passersby told me as I was walking through the courtyard. I merely wished to witness it myself.”

‘Oh, this really is going to be a headache,’ I thought to myself miserably when her venomous tone and angry face didn’t match her polite speech at all.

“There isn’t anything that you need to be concerned about. We are simply discussing magic theory in a public courtyard.”

“I am sure that Your Highness Prince Siegward has no ill intentions, but can anyone know what her true motives are?”

As Liselotte glared at Finne with blazing suspicion, the poor girl shook pitiably.

If Liselotte was going off of the rumour she had heard before, then things certainly might lead to a misunderstanding. But, neither Finne nor I had done anything to feel guilty about. Thinking about it rationally, there shouldn’t really be any confusion at all.

Perhaps the woman who spoke so viciously, my fiancée Liselotte, was maliciously exaggerating what was going on for her own gain. What was I going to do about that?

“Well, it certainly would be difficult for a commoner who has never received a proper education to comprehend the teachings of the Royal Academy of Magic. If you like, perhaps I could instruct you? Ahh… Does Miss Finne only wish to be instructed by a handsome gentleman instead?”

Liselotte had to take things one step further before I could open my mouth to attempt to talk to her and calm her down.

『That’s some strong tsun! Liselotte is really pouring on the tsun now! Don’t you think she’s taking it too far!?』

『To describe Liselotte’s move in a sentence, it would be ‘Let me join in too!’. But even if that’s her intention, her excessive avoiding the point and typically pompous attitude means she has been misunderstood, don’t you think? It seems that Liselotte’s favour with His Highness has fallen once again. Oh, what a precarious development…!』

From the heavens, the 【Voices of the Gods] resounded.

『Why did Liselotte make that move!? Even if she was just saying that sarcastically, His Highness won’t take it well! Why can’t she just understand thaaaaaat?!』

The man’s voice was somber and filled with regret.

I looked around inadvertently, but I couldn’t see anyone.

Neither Finne who was sitting next to me nor Liselotte, who had been directly mentioned, seemed to notice anything at all. Meanwhile, Liselotte continued to glare angrily at me as Finne, who was shrinking smaller and smaller in her seat by the second, glanced towards me anxiously.

『That is because Liselotte is what we call a tsundere. She’s genuinely worried about Finne-chan’s reputation in a situation like this, but because she loves His Highness so much, her words got twisted jealousy, and she can’t express herself honestly.』

I could barely comprehend what the calm womanly voice was saying in my shock.

L-Love…? Who…? Jealousy…? What does Soon d’Rey mean…?

“Your Highness, is there something wrong…?”

Noticing the sudden strange look on my face, Liselotte’s angry expression turned to one of worry as she stared at me.

“Ah, no, it’s that just now I heard 【The Voice of God]…”

That’s right, these were probably the heavenly messengers that only the royal family could hear,【The Voice of God]. Despite realizing that, the current situation was so far outside of the norm that I could only answer weakly, my voice trailing away.

The reason why my family came into power in this country was the ability to hear them.

We are a family that can hear the voices of the Gods who reside in a higher plane.

The heavenly voices of the Gods descend from the heavens and teach us various things, such as unheard of knowledge and secrets of the future.

However, being able to communicate with these eccentric Gods was usually completely based on their whims.

No matter how much you prayed for wisdom or knowledge of the future, usually all you would hear from them were one or two words; perhaps a hint or a warning about a future disaster such as an earthquake, never a fluid and fluent message like this.

Moreover, there has never been a case where two voices were heard at the same time mentioned in what I remembered of the records of the royal family.

“Have you heard of 【The Voice of God] before?” I asked Finne. As I explained the ability passed down in my family to her, I glanced sideways at Liselotte, my thoughts cloudy.

Assuming the voices I heard just now really were Gods and I believed them, then this girl was in love with me.

Certainly, if I thought about it, Liselotte has always been stubborn around me…

『Why did His Highness Prince Siegward start thinking about Liselotte all of a sudden!?』

『I don’t know the reason either. Perhaps His Highness heard 【The Voice of God]…? But, His Highness shouldn’t have awakened yet. This doesn’t follow the scenario at all… Is this a secret route? Endo-kun, did you input any strange commands?』

For some reason, the voice of the Goddess seemed closer nearby than before.

But what they said was true. I was still young and hadn’t come of age yet, so it was my first time hearing the Gods’ voices.

However, I was somehow certain that the voices I was hearing descending from the heavens then must have been the 【The Voice of God]I had learned about from my family’s history records.

『I didn’t do a thing! I just put it on autoplay like you told me to, Kobayashi-san. After choosing ‘Study in the courtyard’, you don’t even need to touch the controller…』

In in a passionate voice and sounding closer than before, the male-sounding God 【Endowkuhn]spoke.

“Ah… Umm… Oh Great Gods Endowkuhn and Coebyashayshan, what is it that you are saying…?”

I stood up from the bench and spoke to the two Gods, who talked in a completely confusing manner.

The voices from the heavens suddenly fell quiet.

Had the 【Voices of the Gods]fallen silent because they were listening to me? Since Liselotte and Finne had become anxiously quiet as well, the courtyard was blanketed by silence.

“I am deeply sorry for calling upon you so suddenly and out of turn. My name is Crown Prince Siegward. I am the first son of the King of Fitzenhagen. I am incredibly humbled by the fact you have been calling me by my title, but please do call me Siegward or simply Sieg.”

Then, with my greetings complete, I bowed deeply before the Gods.

Following my lead, Liselotte curtseyed elegantly. Meanwhile, Finne nearly lost her balance as she panicked and stiffly bowed three or four times.

The Gods exist on a far higher stratum than even a member of the royal family such as myself, disregarding a Marquis’ daughter like Liselotte or a commoner girl like Finne. It wouldn’t do for them to call me ‘His Highness’.

“O’ Great Endowkuhn… Ah, I started hearing both of your exultant voices the moment you said 『That’s some strong soon!』. My family has been blessed with the gift of hearing the voices of the Gods who exist in another world.”

I was unable to see them, but the voices of the two Gods seemed confused somehow.

『Ahh… No, I suppose there was a setting like this… Eh, wait a minute, you can really hear my voice?! Well then… Your Highnes- No, Sieg, if you really can hear me, make sure to give Rize-tan— I mean, Liselotte a big smoooooch!』

Smoo…!?

Coebyashayshan’s words left me completely gobsmacked once again.

Had she just told me to kiss Liselotte…!?

It was a terrible thing to consider, but all the same, they were still instructions given by God. As royalty… No, as an inhabitant of this world, I had no choice but to obey.

In any case, Liselotte is my fiancée.

I should be forgiven for at least one kiss… Still, doing it in public would be disgraceful.

Ahh, but, those were the instructions of God…

As my thoughts spun around in my head, I stepped towards Liselotte, cupping her cheek with my right hand.

“Y-Your Highness…?”

She stiffened up as she looked at me, her eyes wide with confusion.

God had commanded me.

But even so, this was a public courtyard…

There were so many eyes on us…

But, actually…

Liselotte’s cheek was unexpectedly soft.

The skin under my fingers was a beautiful pale hue.

Her glossy lips were a cherry-shade of pink…

“W-What are you…Hn!?”

Ignoring Liselotte, who didn’t know what was happening, I pulled her close to me and…

… Planted a deep kiss.

Pulling her close to me.